Behold: The Administrative Postdoc

When most scholars hear the word “postdoc,” they may picture a researcher working with a faculty mentor in a lab. But increasingly, a new type of postdoc—an administrative postdoc—is appearing in academic institutions. Administrative postdocs have received their doctoral degrees and work in a variety of university offices, including student support, career development and academic program management. The goal of these appointments is the same as in traditional postdoctoral positions: to help early-career scholars develop skills beyond their original doctoral research areas and prepare for their next career steps. The career paths of administrative postdocs often diverge from those of traditional postdocs, moving instead into staff and administrative roles behind the scenes in academic institutions.

Both co-authors of this piece (Alex and Anne-Charlotte) went on similar career journeys after finishing our Ph.D.s. We both decided that we wanted to explore opportunities beyond faculty pathways. When we thought back to the experiences in graduate school that we most valued, what immediately came to mind were some of the mentoring, programming and service work we’d done. Our administrative postdocs allowed us to build on these experiences and the skills we’d gained in graduate school, while also receiving the training we needed to pivot into new career paths in academic, career or research support.

In this article, we highlight some of the skills that a recent Ph.D. graduate—or a postdoctoral scholar looking to pivot—can gain in an administrative postdoc, the questions to ask when considering this type of position and the career and professional development experiences that a mentor to an administrative postdoc can and should provide to their mentees. The focus of our article is not necessarily on how to find or fund an administrative postdoc. Instead, we emphasize some of the key advantages that administrative postdoc positions can offer for early-career scholars looking to build on the hard and soft skills they developed during their Ph.D. in order to transition into a range of possible future career paths.

Skills Gained From an Administrative Postdoc

• Flexibility and Collaboration

Both of our postdoctoral appointments allowed us significant flexibility to work on different projects, build a variety of skills and collaborate across multiple teams and university offices. As former humanities Ph.Ds., we had both worked primarily in solo training environments in graduate school. Our postdocs offered us new opportunities to contribute to and lead team-based projects. For instance, Alex’s postdoctoral appointment was funded through a combination of a National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grant, so Alex worked with two distinctly different teams and balanced responsibilities such as research, manuscript writing, facilitation, outreach and program management in each of these projects. In contrast, Anne-Charlotte works on one team that supports graduate students and postdocs in a variety of ways, so she has the opportunity to design initiatives involving academic writing support, career support, mentorship, university policy, event coordination and research.

This multiproject structure was highly impactful for both of our career exploration journeys. We were able to strategically identify the blend of skills and responsibilities that we most wanted to pursue in our next career steps. In addition, job ads in higher education typically describe the importance of working in diverse team environments and across offices and departments to develop programs and initiatives. Both of our postdoctoral experiences provided us with concrete examples and deliverables that showed we could deftly and successfully build connections within a university setting to create better resources for Ph.Ds. and postdocs.

• Working Across Disciplines

Administrative postdocs also gain a higher-level, interdisciplinary perspective on the needs of Ph.Ds. and postdocs in fields that are distinct from their own. Although doctoral and postdoctoral experiences and work environments are often interdisciplinary in nature, our postdoc positions encouraged us to think about the commonalities and differences across all Ph.D. programs, to ensure that our work could reach all our peers and near-peers in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, math and medicine), humanities and social sciences.

At Boston University, Alex had the opportunity to learn about the distinct teaching responsibilities of STEMM faculty, Ph.Ds. and postdocs, as well as the crucial skills STEMM postdocs sought during their early career experiences. At the University of Maryland, Anne-Charlotte has developed an interdisciplinary mentoring program that encourages participants to identify mentoring priorities that transcend their specific field or discipline. Our postdoctoral positions required us to think beyond our own doctoral training in the humanities; encouraged us to develop a more holistic understanding of doctoral and postdoctoral expectations, norms and disciplinary variations; and enabled us to expand our understanding of higher education systems more broadly.

• Transparency of Academic Systems

Administrative postdocs can also give early-career scholars a crash course in behind-the-scenes administrative decisions, from small details like which permissions need to be gained before sending a bulk email, to larger questions about how budgets are allocated to different offices and departments. For example, the team that Alex was a part of had monthly team meetings where postdocs learned how universities were generally structured; the differences between administrative and faculty paths; and the types of roles, titles and responsibilities we might aim to work toward. We both learned about the inner workings of universities: the difference between policies and guidelines, the day-to-day work of task forces and committees, how to write an annual report, and how to seek out and request funding for new projects. Most of all, our postdoctoral experiences taught us how to navigate these massive administrative structures, and the patience and long-term work necessary to create impactful, permanent change.

Advice for Ph.Ds., Postdocs and Higher Ed Administrators

We’d like to conclude by offering three pieces of concrete advice to Ph.D.s or postdocs who are curious about this type of position, and to higher education administrators and staff members who seek to mentor an administrative postdoc.

• Proactively Ask Questions

As you are exploring administrative postdoc positions, some useful questions to ask might include:

1. What is the timeline and structure of the postdoc? For instance, is it a one- or three-year appointment?
2. Is it grant funded or university funded?
3. Will you be working primarily on one project or collaborating on several priorities?
4. Are you expected to contribute toward an existing project or is there space to develop your own? How will your mentor help you balance your priorities with those of the wider office?
5. What type of professional development support for conferences will you have?

Many of these questions are ones you might pose before accepting any postdoctoral position. As with any postdoc, it’s helpful for an administrative postdoc to understand their timeline, the scope of their responsibilities and how their work will fit into their larger unit. By asking these questions even before accepting a postdoctoral position, Ph.D.s, postdocs and their mentors can reflect on their career development goals and the mentor-mentee relationships they hope to cultivate.

• Engage in Professional Development

Transitioning into an administrative postdoc also means joining a new professional community. We encourage administrative postdocs to proactively participate in the professional organizations that best fit their new role. As with scholarly organizations, these communities often provide postdocs with opportunities to present and publish their work and to meet professionals in their field. For example, Anne-Charlotte and Alex are both part of the Graduate Career Consortium, as well as the National Postdoctoral Association. Whether you are in research administration, career advising or academic support, administrative postdocs who are just starting out should identify the professional development communities that will help them with their responsibilities. Likewise, mentors supporting administrative postdocs might consider actively connecting their postdocs with their own networks to help build strong professional relationships that can benefit both the postdocs and their programs.

• Consider Sustainability

A supervisor of an administrative postdoc should consider the sustainability of their postdoc’s position and projects. What are your goals for this postdoctoral position? Although a postdoc is a time-limited appointment, ideally these projects and initiatives will continue after the postdoc has left. How do you anticipate sustaining this work in the long term? Is there a limited source of funding for this postdoc, or can a new postdoc be hired after the previous postdoc has left? How might these goals and limitations impact the training your current postdoc will receive? We both stress the importance of sustainability, especially because administrative offices range in the funding and resources they have available. Mentors can be transparent and develop concrete goals with their postdocs taking these factors into consideration.

Conclusion

The increase in administrative postdoctoral roles provides more opportunities for Ph.D.s and postdoctoral scholars to directly and creatively apply the expertise they developed over many years of doctoral training. Although we’ve discussed the benefits of the administrative postdoc in the context of transitioning into higher education administration and student support, we also believe that the skills and experiences we’ve outlined can help postdocs transfer into a multitude of diverse career paths. We hope more institutions consider how administrative postdoctoral positions might benefit both the postdocs themselves and the wider Ph.D. and postdoc populations they would serve.